Sunday 22 September 2013

Friday 20 September 2013

There are not so many flowers in my garden now. Some jasmine, some balsam, some persicara, some fuschia, all now fading. But the cyclamen and ivy are just putting on their autumn show. And there are still butterflies. Summer is drawing to a close, but not quite yet.




Thursday 19 September 2013

I spent a very lovely afternoon yesterday with Colin Johnson, http://colinjohnsonart.tumblr.com/, looking at his studio space and discussing his work and mine, and other stuff besides; connections, walking, found objects, fabric, deterioration, light, stitch, dye, exhibiting and other artists whose work we admire, the list goes on. 
I met Colin last December when he kindly agreed to let me interview him for my dissertation essay. He is a beachcomber, artist and printmaker, amongst other things, and his work has a quiet brilliance that I really love. We share many interests, and I really appreciate his friendship as an artist some-many steps ahead of me. Our work and work process meet and mirror in many places, but we are also different enough to be bringing new ideas to the table that suggest and provoke new creative directions. I think, I hope, this feeling is mutual.

Monday 16 September 2013

I've been working on a project for the American Crafts Council and I've been anxious about it because my preliminary work didn't feel quite good enough. However, over the weekend I had a breakthrough, I really should learn to trust my process, and it is falling in to place now. 
I was sent some archive photographs to make into a set of playing cards. The photographs were very cool, rockets, and presidents wives, and mad inventions, and craftwork, and I think, initially, I was a bit in awe of them, afraid to cut them up and play. But now that I have bitten the bullet I am really enjoying using them, and as always happens learning from my making. I will put up a project gallery on my website http://beccajiclfford.weebly.com/ when I am finished but for now here are a few pictures of the work so far.









Friday 13 September 2013



I have no idea why but in the small hours of the morning this song slipped seamlessly from my dreams to my waking state, and it won't let me go so it seems pertinent to blog it.

Monday 9 September 2013

On sunday I went to Sheringham. It was a day out with my family so I wasn't focusing on taking arty photos, but I happened to snap some seaweed and a piece of old raggedy rope, and I caught a few ideas to follow up next time I'm out there on my own.    


Saturday 7 September 2013

It might seem odd but my local cemetery is a nice place to take a short walk. In the older part there are big trees and places where plant-rogues, brambles and ivy, grow out of graves. Today I went to pick berries for dyeing, and to take a few photographs. I found laurel fruit which I think are probably poisonous, and blackberries of which there were many. 
It's a funny thing about this graveyard, I don't know if it is the same elsewhere, but some graves are marked with cherubic angels and a lot of these have lost their heads. I remember clocking this a few years ago, and I have a feeling that I will be taking more photographs of angels headless and otherwise over the next few months. And making note of seasonal shifts as the coming year passes by.


Tuesday 3 September 2013

The missing pot



One of my pots from the exhibition has disappeared. I feel quite sad as it was part of a small collection I had made called Series 1 - Hinterlands and each piece was/is unique. If anyone should come upon this pot, please know that it is mine and precious to me. It is the white one on the right and had blotches of copper oxide inside.